RSS supported Indira on emergency: Dr Farooq

Jammu, Nov 19: National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah on Sunday accused the RSS of colluding with British during India’s great freedom struggle, supported Indira Gandhi during emergency and is now dividing the nation on communal lines.
“By promoting and playing communal politics, the RSS and its off-shoots including the BJP are hell bent to fragment India into bits and pieces”, Dr Farooq Abdullah said while addressing office bearers and prominent leaders of NC Students Union at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here Sunday morning.
He questioned the hyper-nationalistic posturing of the BJP, saying history stands testimony to the negative role the RSS played during the freedom movement when stalwarts were facing the wrath of British. He questioned the role of the BJP in its earlier avatar of Jan Sangh and even before when its leaders aligned with British.
“The Sangh leaders played second fiddle to British and were against independence of India”, Dr Abdullah said, adding that they wanted Britishers to stay put in the country and intrigued against the towering freedom fighters. He wondered over the ultra-nationalism being gloated now, unfortunately by polarizing the political atmosphere and dubbing adversaries as anti-nationals.
Dr Abdullah referred to divisive politics of the BJP and decried the attempts of sowing seeds of hatred and mistrust among various communities for petty political gains. He said onus lies on youth of the country to sensitise the people against polarizing and communal politics of the BJP, RSS and its affiliated organizations. He said communal divide is against the idea of India and its ethos.
Dr Farooq Abdullah also took a jibe at BJP or Jan Sangh’s hypocrisy, saying the RSS top brass had supported the 1975 emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He referred to the book of Rajesh Rao and said that even the RSS chief had wanted to meet Mrs Gandhi, which she declined for being seen close to the Sangh.
He advised youth to get abreast with the chequered history of the country and the state that will help them to analyse political developments in right perspective.
The history, he said, has unfortunately been distorted and the version the young minds are being fed is far from facts. He dwelt upon the circumstances leading to accession of Jammu and Kashmir with Indian domain, essentially on three subjects—defense, communication and foreign affairs—and referred to promises made by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament and the UN. He said the people of the state are not asking anything beyond the promises made and National Conference is prepared to have positive discussions over autonomy.
“I had made it amply clear to Arun Jaitley, when he was designated as representative of the NDA Government during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure to study the J&K Autonomy Report that either get convinced over the document or convince us as to what was wrong in the autonomy document that jeopradises the national interest”, Dr Farooq said in the backdrop of three subjects on which the accession was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh. He said the people of the state were not against the Maharaja but they had stood against the system across the country.
The NC President said that Jammu and Kashmir had preferred to be part of secular India and not theocratic Pakistan, as the people believed that religion alone was not a binding force. This was proved beyond any doubt in the wake of the creation of Bangladesh, he added.
The National Conference President also exhorted youth to gear up for upcoming Panchayat elections in a big way, saying their entry into public life will bring a fresh breather in the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir and help in steering it out of the prevailing morass.
“Youth have to be catalyst of change and National Conference will provide an appropriate platform to them and harness their energies in productive pursuits in the field of governance”,
He said National Conference has all along empowered the youth politically, which is why the state has never suffered from political vacuum. He, however, cautioned against the political deceits, who have let down their own people for the loaves of power or satiating the political agenda of anti-J&K elements.
“Reeling under the mis-rule and suffering from injustice, the people of the state deserve justice and the youth can be an effective instrument in this regard”, Dr Abdullah said, adding that National Conference will enter into electoral arena with a blend of young and experienced leadership for the larger interests of the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. He said elections to grass roots level democratic institutions is the second step of the political ladder for youth after making their mark in youth movement at the university and college levels.
He urged the women to benefit from 33 per cent reservation in panchayats and participate in these to get elected and play their crucial role in decision making at the grass roots level.
Provincial President Devender Singh Rana also spoke on the occasion and lauded the youth for their enthusiasm in serving the state and its people. Senior National Conference leaders were also present on the occasion.
Provincial Vice President and incharge youth wing Dr Chaman Lal also spoke on the occasion and said that the young party workers would work as foot soldiers of the National Conference in highlighting problems of the people and seeking their redressal at appropriate levels.
Prominent among the NCSU leaders and office bearers present included those who were present on the occasion included Iftakhar Choudhary President NCSU, Mukhtar Gorsi Provincial Secretary, Mahesh Baksh, Vikas Pandit Jammu University President, Nighat Shafiq Incharge girls, Mamesha, Aleeza, Varsha, Harswardhan, Raza, Iqbal, Imran, Bilal, Khushal, Sajid, Mamenam, Vina, Shubam, Massarat Malik, Akran, Shabaz, Pinku, Shakeel, Zaheer, Azhar, Ajaz, Omar, Ghani, Jinny Singh, Waqar, Maqsood and others. (KNS)